WEBVTT 1 00:08.000 --> 00:51.000 Let me see now, let's begin. Years ago, New Bern was not in the officiant when they weighed to card the people, as they were growing up and being born. And as they did, we had to go off to other places to find out. So they had me down and my daddy says, "Will you please, she's born now." "We can't record her right now." That's what they said. It was so far back. 2 00:51.000 --> 00:53.000 New Bern couldn't record your birth? 3 00:53.000 --> 00:55.000 That's right. Well, they hadn't started that yet. 4 00:55.000 --> 00:56.000 Really? Was that just for Black folks? 5 00:56.000 --> 01:06.000 So my daddy carried me off to another place. They told him what to do. 6 01:06.000 --> 01:07.000 Oh, okay. 7 01:07.000 --> 01:14.000 And when he came back, he has October? 8 01:14.000 --> 01:22.000 Birthday. 9 01:22.000 --> 01:24.000 October the, what was it? 10th? 10 01:24.000 --> 01:24.000 10th. 11 01:24.000 --> 01:24.000 Huh? 12 01:24.000 --> 01:24.000 10th. 13 01:24.000 --> 01:24.000 I think. 14 01:24.000 --> 01:27.000 October 10th. 15 01:27.000 --> 01:37.000 October the 10th, 1905. That's when he brought. 16 01:37.000 --> 01:38.000 Was that your real birthdate? 17 01:38.000 --> 01:59.000 And that's what we have to go by. 1905. 10/10/05. October 10, 1905. So my daddy had to go and find and they gave it to him. So I have not no right to go no farther than what I know. 18 01:59.000 --> 02:00.000 Sure. 19 02:00.000 --> 02:00.000 Well. 20 02:00.000 --> 02:07.000 Wouldn't ask you to do that. Do you remember the house that you grew up in? 21 02:07.000 --> 02:07.000 You have the house? 22 02:07.000 --> 02:07.000 Yeah. I showed it to her. 23 02:07.000 --> 02:07.000 Picture. 24 02:07.000 --> 02:07.000 You have it? 25 02:07.000 --> 02:07.000 We showed it to them. Tell her about it. 26 02:07.000 --> 02:07.000 Huh? 27 02:07.000 --> 02:07.000 Tell her about the house. How it got so big. 28 02:07.000 --> 03:27.000 Well, I could tell about the house. The house is large, that it had upstairs. Upstairs, and then in that upstairs we had my brother, he was on one side of that room that he was in. And at that time, they had the great big old heaters, coal heaters. Well, about it happened by happened. My mother had, it was in the summertime at that time, really. So she says, "I'll sit here and rock you." You three of you, get out of there and listen while I'm going to read the Bible. Every time she did, we had to be there. And near nobody knew, I've done forgot a lot of her Genesis exercise. 29 03:27.000 --> 03:27.000 Right. 30 03:27.000 --> 03:32.000 Yeah, no matter then. 31 03:32.000 --> 03:33.000 From her reading to you, you knew it. 32 03:33.000 --> 04:05.000 Yeah, that's right. And that's what we did. Sat there and waited, and she read the Bible. And after that, when we grew up, my sister Shirley, that's when I just not put up there when you was hiding. I was enjoying on that. But she was more like a Chinaman. She scrunched up eyes. 33 04:05.000 --> 04:08.000 Why would she do that? 34 04:08.000 --> 04:11.000 She just did it. I guess she was born like that anyway. 35 04:11.000 --> 04:13.000 Yeah. 36 04:13.000 --> 04:56.000 But anyway, we did. I took care of her. She went to college in Fairbrook. Then she clumped after having a little trouble. She was doing that while the children were out. Chopping corn and everything, she hated to see that. And for some, because she didn't want to go there no more. She had to see the children out there, down there grubbing doing. So she went to the city. 37 04:56.000 --> 04:56.000 Your sister did? 38 04:56.000 --> 04:57.000 Huh? 39 04:57.000 --> 04:58.000 Your sister? 40 04:58.000 --> 05:01.000 That's my sister. Screech Chapels. 41 05:01.000 --> 05:02.000 Where were you when she left? 42 05:02.000 --> 06:40.000 And then, all right, now I went to the same school. Well anyway, while I was going along and scared of me trying to get straight, I was helping my sister to educate and get her diplomas and everything. And when she got her diplomas, then we landed in Virginia. But I got lost in June, Virginia. The man was supposed to take me there. And he says, as we were going here from New Bern, now take New Bern. It was slow getting around because it did not have the qualities, the people to come in and give them a good place to grow up. Some kind of factory. But New Bern felt like they could do that themselves. But after a while, it was one old factory, right? Straight up the waterfront. I forgot now the age. And we would go up there and when you turn, you have to go over there and over there was a lot of different things, and it wasn't so good. Everybody was trying to clean up whatnot at that time. 43 06:40.000 --> 06:42.000 What kind of work did your father do ma'am? 44 06:42.000 --> 06:43.000 Huh? 45 06:43.000 --> 06:45.000 What kind of work did your father do? 46 06:45.000 --> 06:49.000 Well anyway, she didn't get. 47 06:49.000 --> 06:50.000 She said what kind of work? 48 06:50.000 --> 06:55.000 What kind of work did your father do? Your father? 49 06:55.000 --> 07:00.000 He was an architecture. 50 07:00.000 --> 07:03.000 So he built this house. He designed that house? 51 07:03.000 --> 07:08.000 That house he did. And the church over there. 52 07:08.000 --> 07:12.000 And he was architecture. And also, what else was it? 53 07:12.000 --> 07:13.000 Carpenter. 54 07:13.000 --> 07:15.000 A carpenter indeed. 55 07:15.000 --> 07:17.000 What about your mother? 56 07:17.000 --> 08:30.000 When you said, when he do that, he'd get your picture first and he get the pictures of that. And I know anything. He was around in New Bern building and working on house building churches. And at that time, the churches and we had Colored. And finally they got together and they would have their meetings. And my dad was going and building, so frightening everything. He landed in Washington. I say for gracious sake, I got to go too. Says, well, we'll have to go according to my job. So he went home, he got the job. He got job then in Washington. And he just want to say he took the family. Then my mother-in-law. 57 08:30.000 --> 08:32.000 How old were you when you went? 58 08:32.000 --> 08:33.000 When I went? 59 08:33.000 --> 08:40.000 To Washington? 60 08:40.000 --> 08:45.000 Well, I think I was around about 10. Yeah, so something like that. Childlike. 61 08:45.000 --> 08:48.000 What was that like moving to such a big city? 62 08:48.000 --> 08:49.000 Hm? 63 08:49.000 --> 08:52.000 What was it like moving to such a big city? 64 08:52.000 --> 08:52.000 Didn't worry. 65 08:52.000 --> 09:00.000 This was little Washington. 66 09:00.000 --> 09:11.000 You know why? You know why, I went there. I began here again to little to New Bern, it had the train going up and down. Everybody having a good time. All the training. You remember that, don't you? 67 09:11.000 --> 09:12.000 No, don't remember? 68 09:12.000 --> 09:13.000 No, I'm young. 69 09:13.000 --> 09:14.000 Oh, but it. 70 09:14.000 --> 09:16.000 I heard about it though. 71 09:16.000 --> 10:18.000 I know you did. All right. That train would go. And when that train go through there, it was supposed to continue until it get to, what was it, Virginia? So the train, the man, the conductor, he says, "I'll take care of you." My mother gave me a brown suit she made me. She's a seamstress too. She took that brown suit. And after having taken this brown suit, she put a tag and the conductor in there, he says, "I'll take care of it." And when she gets there, I will see that she gets to the right place. 72 10:18.000 --> 10:51.000 And he forgot. Went on out, got his dinner. And here comes the boy, his son. He says, "Who are you?" And I was so mad with him. I'm saying, "I'm sorry." I said, "But your daddy was supposed to see that I got to the Old Dominion line and he didn't. " "Let me go run out there." And here comes a different people that wants what they call them, not the transport. And I can't think of all them. 73 10:51.000 --> 10:56.000 Passenger. 74 10:56.000 --> 10:57.000 Huh? 75 10:57.000 --> 10:58.000 Passengers? 76 10:58.000 --> 11:01.000 Passengers. Here he comes, "I'll take you over there for—" 77 11:01.000 --> 11:04.000 Oh, taxi cab driver. 78 11:04.000 --> 11:19.000 "I'll take you over there for" such and such, "$5." I says, "Keep walking. My mother told me it was just around the corner." 79 11:19.000 --> 11:24.000 A long corner! (Rebecca Davis laughs) 80 11:24.000 --> 12:44.000 And so anyway, kept on like that and kept on that until they got down to my numbers. And my numbers was probably about two something in that time at my age, two dollars and some cents. I says, "Okay." And so he got in there and his son, not knowing anything. I was there right by myself and I was so mad. I didn't know what in the world to do. But I stayed there until somebody came up and he said, "I will take you to the Old Dominion line." I said "Okay." And when he said he'd take you down, I said, "How much?" I said, "It's just around the corner." My mother said, "Just around the corner. " And I kept on until I got 10. I was already 10 then. And so from that time on, we began to go. 81 12:44.000 --> 12:48.000 So you were only 10 years old? 82 12:48.000 --> 12:55.000 She made a dress for me and put my tag on me because I couldn't do it. But I did it. 83 12:55.000 --> 12:58.000 I can see that. 84 12:58.000 --> 13:39.000 I did it. And so when I got there, everything, I met a girl. She said, "You know one thing, I've been going to Boston, Massachusetts and all other places a long time, but I can't do it." I said, "Look, come on, let's go." Began to become friends. And so when we went down to what we call Old Dominion lines, we came on our, we checked our books. No, our clothes, whatever it was, case. 85 13:39.000 --> 13:39.000 Yeah. 86 13:39.000 --> 14:25.000 Because we didn't have, very little know how, we checked that case. And after checking that case, we say, "Now how? I'm hungry." I say, "You are." I said, "Okay, you go." I saw a girl across the street and she looked just like one of my friends lived down the end down here, Geneva. Geneva where the end that comes up from the lake center right down here. But anyway, she says, "How are we going do it?" I looked up, I say count the number of the light poles. 87 14:25.000 --> 14:25.000 Oh. 88 14:25.000 --> 14:33.000 And so we caught it with light poles. 89 14:33.000 --> 14:34.000 So you could find your way back. 90 14:34.000 --> 15:23.000 That's right. And when we did that, I'm sitting down there enjoying this food eating. And I looked out there and saw this girl, well just, I called and I called and waved to her, right? Young somebody. But I called the streets. He says, I'm sorry, but I'm not that girl. I said, "Beg your pardon." And from that time, you don't catch me going to nobody's place to find out, to call nobody. You see me most likely run this and look in the window, see what my eyes didn't see. 91 15:23.000 --> 15:26.000 What were you going to Virginia for? To go to school? 92 15:26.000 --> 15:57.000 I'm telling you, we are going to the Old Dominion line. And from the Old Dominion line we kept right on from one thing. I think it was up to Virginia or not to Virginia, to I've forgot now. Which would take you westward, take you east ward. And when I did, I landed in Boston. 93 15:57.000 --> 16:04.000 It must've, where she was going, she had relatives there. 94 16:04.000 --> 16:21.000 No. When I landed there, I had nothing. I had nothing to worry about, because first thing my Aunt Mary would say, they all call me kiddo. 95 16:21.000 --> 16:26.000 Kiddo? (laughs) 96 16:26.000 --> 17:48.000 Kiddo. And say, "Now look kiddo, I'm going to carry you all the way around in Boston, Massachusetts as far as we can." So we did. And when we did get around, I was some kind of tired. She said, "Well kiddo, I'll tell you, let's stop in Tremont Street," and in Tremont Street you see, she would, at least there would be a little box, a little house look like you going downstairs. And when you get downstairs and it looked like another office, and they would put you on the right number. And above there, the trains were just going. And so I was walking under there, and come to find out when I got under there, they knew and they let me know, see, now to be sure that meant to tell me that I had to go back under that same place, go back and up there was nothing but electrical trains. And so I got up there somehow or another, I don't know. 97 17:48.000 --> 17:52.000 Wow. 98 17:52.000 --> 18:23.000 But anyway, when I got on down the line there, they told me, they said, "It's good that you are living," because you see I was looking right under there. And there was a way that you could go in, but it had this writing, "Be careful." And so when I saw that thing looked up there, I was careful myself. (laughs) 99 18:23.000 --> 18:25.000 So you weren't supposed to go there? 100 18:25.000 --> 18:28.000 No. But anyway. 101 18:28.000 --> 18:31.000 But you did. 102 18:31.000 --> 20:15.000 I did.(laughs) And when we came on back and when we got down there and from there is to, I forgot the name of the street, the place from before I could get to Foster, Massachusetts because it was east. So when we did, I was so tired. The man says, "Your friend said she can't get there. And she knew farther down than you do. Now what you going to do about it?" I looked on my tag and thought about what my mother said, "Be careful." I said, well anyway, I got, "How much you charge?" He was $2. "Well, I ain't got none," this girl saying, "I ain't got no," made me so mad when she said, "I ain't got no." I looked on my card. I said, "Well, I'll take it, I'll pay it." Try girl down the line there. And then after that they had to come back to this main line that we were talking to. And all those large buildings, those large buildings just like coast of New Bern had some large. But all of these buildings were close together. 103 20:15.000 --> 20:16.000 Really? 104 20:16.000 --> 20:47.000 Five and six stories high. And I was three. And there was a school right in front of my house. That was just an ordinary school. And I was not supposed to go there because I passed that. And I looked down the line, I heard somebody, "Kiddo." This is the man, my uncle. 105 20:47.000 --> 20:56.000 Right. 106 20:56.000 --> 21:00.000 He said, "Here, come on, come on." And I looked at the man, I said, just really Tremont Street. 107 21:00.000 --> 21:04.000 So you found your way back? 108 21:04.000 --> 21:33.000 I was on the train. I got on a little strider car. And when it did that, he says, "That's right. That's it. That's your face. There you live." So, or did. But I had to remember, don't ask anybody because they might put you off them. They may not know what you know about it. Lord came in. Thank you very much. 109 21:33.000 --> 21:38.000 So ma'am, did you go up to live with your aunt then for a period of time? 110 21:38.000 --> 21:40.000 Then missed it. I stayed there a good while. 111 21:40.000 --> 21:41.000 Really? 112 21:41.000 --> 22:08.000 And so after staying there, my mother, before I did that, you see my mother had been carrying my brother and if she'd have a baby, anything she would do. But my mother was the mother of, I'd say about 12 children. 113 22:08.000 --> 22:10.000 Wow. 114 22:10.000 --> 22:22.000 Two sets of twins. And those twins, I was jealous of them. 115 22:22.000 --> 22:24.000 How come? 116 22:24.000 --> 23:26.000 Because they all loved the best. We had them out there, right there. My father then after I had been to Boston, we'd go and come. So anyway, when we did, they just asked a lot of questions. Asked a lot of questions. And I really tried to. So I let that lady go on that two daughters. Then they brought me back to Massachusetts, see? And when they brought me back, they also told me, he said, "Now you do like your mother said, you watch out," and whenever you get ready, I says, "Okay, I'm going to put my case up in these lockers up here." I put my case up there in the locker. 117 23:26.000 --> 23:26.000 Babies? 118 23:26.000 --> 23:38.000 So anyway, from that time on, I didn't tell you. 119 23:38.000 --> 23:39.000 Can you tell me about the twins? 120 23:39.000 --> 23:40.000 The what? 121 23:40.000 --> 23:45.000 The twins? Tell me about the babies? 122 23:45.000 --> 25:26.000 Well, the twins, the porch was higher than this porch. And the porch where I had, and I told you all the time, jealous. So two sets of twins, boy and a girl, and one, we over there. My place we had was no such thing as a place going down there like that now. That was a high hill. And that high hill, they had a great big stage just like you have down to New Bern, and the people would land there and do all they could. All right. And from that stage, we'd go in sometimes. For the children have, the house was built just about that tall. And I mean from the roof, from the floor. And I know anything, I was jealous of these twin babies anyhow. I had the carriage shaking and they all out there playing out good. "Play ball!" "Play ball!" When I looked back there I said, "Ahhh!!" (laughs) And looked there. Carriage was right on top of the baby. 123 25:26.000 --> 25:28.000 If you had thought. 124 25:28.000 --> 25:58.000 But instead of doing that, I cried and called mama. I said, "Mama, mama!" Mother came out, I said, "The babies down there." But that was the best way to do, not stand there and cry right on. Well, I thought the babies would be dead. But you know those babies, they lived. 125 25:58.000 --> 26:00.000 Babies bounce back, don't they? 126 26:00.000 --> 26:03.000 Yeah. And they lived. Oh, but they, 127 26:03.000 --> 26:09.000 Where did you go to school when you were young? Did you go to school here in James City? 128 26:09.000 --> 26:28.000 I went down to James City a while, was a while. From James City I took pens, and the girl that I was just showing you, made it up, I gave her her diploma. 129 26:28.000 --> 26:29.000 Right. You were telling me that. 130 26:29.000 --> 26:38.000 I let her go. And when she got through, then I had to help somebody else. 131 26:38.000 --> 26:39.000 Elementary school, jump to college. 132 26:39.000 --> 26:39.000 I see. 133 26:39.000 --> 26:47.000 So anyway, when I helped her, I helped her, she went through college I'm telling you. 134 26:47.000 --> 26:49.000 She wants to know where you went to elementary school. 135 26:49.000 --> 26:52.000 I went to elementary school down the road here. 136 26:52.000 --> 26:54.000 What about high school? 137 26:54.000 --> 26:59.000 And when I went to high school, was to, well just. 138 26:59.000 --> 27:00.000 West Street. 139 27:00.000 --> 27:01.000 Huh? 140 27:01.000 --> 27:02.000 Went to West Street. 141 27:02.000 --> 27:02.000 West Street. 142 27:02.000 --> 27:04.000 And then from there, went to Washington. 143 27:04.000 --> 27:05.000 When we went to West Street, I was sorry. 144 27:05.000 --> 27:11.000 West Street. 145 27:11.000 --> 28:23.000 There's a great big old steps from the auditorium up high West Street. We going down, we couldn't get down there. And so when we have our classes, we had a better way coming on in. I had no way to do all the trees down. That wouldn't cut many of the trees down West Street. Okay. So when I got ready to eat, I cook my food. My mother always had me a nice little basket or something. And I went up beside the building, the great building and ate my food. And when I got through, I walked around trees and I looked up there, I said, "Wonder why they don't cut some of these trees down." Saying to myself now. And that wasn't my business. And after that we got along pretty good. 146 28:23.000 --> 28:28.000 Did you have to walk the bridge over to West Street? Did you have to walk to school? 147 28:28.000 --> 28:30.000 I didn't miss it. 148 28:30.000 --> 28:31.000 Did you walk? 149 28:31.000 --> 28:33.000 I didn't ride. 150 28:33.000 --> 28:37.000 Yeah. Did you walk to West Street or did they have a bus there? 151 28:37.000 --> 28:39.000 Oh no, I wasn't. I never went to West Street. I never went to James City. 152 28:39.000 --> 28:39.000 She doesn't know one thing about it. 153 28:39.000 --> 28:47.000 I went to school with her when she teaching in Vanceboro. 154 28:47.000 --> 28:48.000 Oh. Ah. We just came back from Vanceboro. 155 28:48.000 --> 28:48.000 Huh? 156 28:48.000 --> 28:52.000 We just interviewed some people in Vanceboro. 157 28:52.000 --> 28:56.000 Did you get any chance to get to see them? 158 28:56.000 --> 28:59.000 No, I didn't. I only interviewed two people today. 159 28:59.000 --> 29:08.000 When I went to Vanceboro, the lady up on some street in New Bern, I forgot. You remember? 160 29:08.000 --> 29:09.000 Yeah. 161 29:09.000 --> 29:09.000 What's her name? 162 29:09.000 --> 29:15.000 Ms. Nelson. 163 29:15.000 --> 29:25.000 And no, not Nelson, I'm talking about another player. Said nothing that I had to go and pick up two or three teachers to go. 164 29:25.000 --> 29:26.000 Oh, to take that. 165 29:26.000 --> 30:14.000 And so when we did that, we put her in between the driver and myself. But there's so many of them report, I think she was up there. She was so small. And then one of the ladies said, "Look here girl." You know what you talking about. Look here, let me tell you I dressed too much and put on. I got too many nice clothes for you to be sitting around here messing up. Yeah. I can't stand it. 166 30:14.000 --> 30:17.000 She carried. Reteach it with, she took the ride. 167 30:17.000 --> 30:17.000 She was. 168 30:17.000 --> 30:17.000 She. 169 30:17.000 --> 30:20.000 She was going to school 170 30:20.000 --> 30:30.000 And secretary. I got dirty every day, I was talking about dirty rag and everything. She took the time off- 171 30:30.000 --> 30:44.000 When she got to school, everything. She was going up there tall after a while because I stayed there in Vanceboro, I've forgotten how many years. 172 30:44.000 --> 30:44.000 Long time. 173 30:44.000 --> 30:44.000 About 17. 174 30:44.000 --> 30:48.000 Yeah. 175 30:48.000 --> 31:44.000 But anyway, I went there. And I just had to tell, when she was in school she was very small and start here. That meant I had to study. I taught to Vanceboro a long time. I don't recall. But it was a long time. And when I did get up there, they had a nice merry-go-round for the boys. They had a little, another place over there. You go down, you can't get up, on what you call that? Whatever may call it. 176 31:44.000 --> 31:44.000 The boys already jumped the ditch and that merry go round for everyone. 177 31:44.000 --> 31:58.000 But anyway, the different ones, the children would do it for the fun of it. And they'd get that thing and carry around fast. I know I should be out there, the muddy one. 178 31:58.000 --> 31:59.000 You were all muddy? 179 31:59.000 --> 32:00.000 Mm-hmm. 180 32:00.000 --> 32:01.000 You were playing with boys? 181 32:01.000 --> 32:01.000 Yes. 182 32:01.000 --> 32:01.000 Always played with boys. 183 32:01.000 --> 32:11.000 Okay. 184 32:11.000 --> 32:31.000 She wanted one of the fifth grade children. Yeah. And the tallest one. My class had to be on that side. You see the one part of the school over there? The first beginning of it, because you had to go on home then come I be down there. 185 32:31.000 --> 32:36.000 So how big was your school? How big was the Vanceboro school? 186 32:36.000 --> 32:36.000 Huh? 187 32:36.000 --> 32:39.000 How big was the school at Vanceboro? 188 32:39.000 --> 32:46.000 That school was, I tell you, how many people? 189 32:46.000 --> 32:49.000 How many rooms did it have? 190 32:49.000 --> 32:51.000 I think when she taught, that it was a regular. 191 32:51.000 --> 32:51.000 The big school? 192 32:51.000 --> 32:58.000 Regular size school like this then, had the old building. 193 32:58.000 --> 32:58.000 Connected. 194 32:58.000 --> 32:58.000 Housed the eighth, second grade. 195 32:58.000 --> 33:01.000 Okay. 196 33:01.000 --> 33:12.000 I mean seventh grade. They had this long hallway. It was U-shaped and then the new part was on the other end. Regular sized, modern sized school. 197 33:12.000 --> 34:05.000 No, they couldn't do anything until, and they had to have a buses up there. And I had to try to look out for them too, keep the children from doing it at that time. And all at once, one little fella, he said, "Well now I'm going to start Ms. Davis." I said, "Well you can, do you have your license?" "Yes ma'am." And we got to do this for a while. I says, okay then I'm going to take charge. No sir, we did that. Here comes a little boy. Just about six years old right quick was going to grab it, ran into it then about. And so we had to take that in charge. 198 34:05.000 --> 34:07.000 What other schools did you teach at? 199 34:07.000 --> 34:08.000 Huh? 200 34:08.000 --> 34:12.000 What other schools? Where did you teach when you first started teaching? 201 34:12.000 --> 34:14.000 Where? What's the name of the place, Myrtle? 202 34:14.000 --> 34:18.000 Well, you first started teaching, you taught Vanceboro. 203 34:18.000 --> 34:19.000 What about? 204 34:19.000 --> 34:22.000 Before then, you taught down in Adams Creek. 205 34:22.000 --> 34:24.000 No, I'm not talking about that. 206 34:24.000 --> 34:25.000 Well, that's what she was though. In Adams Creek. 207 34:25.000 --> 34:25.000 Now the first one. 208 34:25.000 --> 34:25.000 First one. 209 34:25.000 --> 34:29.000 One room classroom. 210 34:29.000 --> 34:30.000 The very first one. 211 34:30.000 --> 34:30.000 Very first one. 212 34:30.000 --> 34:40.000 I had to go to Adams Creek because my daddy carried me. He said I want to go to farthest way from home. 213 34:40.000 --> 34:41.000 The farthest? How come? 214 34:41.000 --> 34:44.000 So when I got there to Adams Creek, wait a minute, now. 215 34:44.000 --> 34:47.000 I'm listening. 216 34:47.000 --> 34:55.000 Everybody was very glad to go. And before I got there I went by water and we went. 217 34:55.000 --> 34:57.000 On ferry. 218 34:57.000 --> 35:04.000 In on one of these tug boats. And it had something else, another little boat. And that boat was doing like this. 219 35:04.000 --> 35:04.000 Oh. 220 35:04.000 --> 36:17.000 And a preacher was in there with me and it rolled. And I said, "What you doing there for?" Scared. And when I looked up, there was a gray, big, old, large, looked like a large fish. And so the man stopped this tug boat. He said, "You see that tail there? Now that's," the man, "That's the tail of a big fish." And that type of fish eats early in the morning. And when he eats, he eats the nice great big sheds and all like that and his tail is up. That's the way it did, I said, "Good [indistinct 00:35:54]." So the thing came, the boat kept going and I kept on knowing a thing, I saw it. But I wasn't frightened because I had went by his orders, the tugboat man and forgot about preacher because he was a— 221 36:17.000 --> 36:24.000 I got too close. 222 36:24.000 --> 36:59.000 But anyway, when I went to that place, that place was very, very nice to me. When I got there, I went to a building and it had stair steps going up in now. And I was getting ready for to stay there a while. 223 36:59.000 --> 37:04.000 In [indistinct 00:37:00]. In the country. 224 37:04.000 --> 38:22.000 But anyway, by not staying there, the lady was very nice. She said, "Well, tell Ms. Davis I wouldn't accept you to go there because people of all kind," and always say, "I know you good, and I'm not going to let you go up there and have a ball like the rest of them." I say thank you very much. And from that time, we met— my daddy's met me. He went on down and they invited us to the church. To teach in the church. I taught my church two weeks before I began to think. I says to myself, "These people are very nice to me. And this is a church and I cannot put what I want. I cannot give the different plays and different things to the children like I want to." 225 38:22.000 --> 39:26.000 So I called one of the most important ones. They say, "Ms. Davis, you can stay in there." I say, "No, I'm sorry." So they took good pains and carried me to another place to stay a while until they could get straight. And so they got a nice little place and well, I got tickled. The lady was nice. And she gave me warning. She says, "I have a child, I have to nurse." Everything. I say, "You do?" 226 39:26.000 --> 39:27.000 We had school during that time. 227 39:27.000 --> 39:40.000 Wait a minute, that child was grown. Just want to say that child, I don't know how, I can't say. But she was just as tall as I am now. 228 39:40.000 --> 39:40.000 About five. Six, seven years older. 229 39:40.000 --> 39:47.000 And she called her up and make her nurse her and have her. 230 39:47.000 --> 39:48.000 She had teeth? 231 39:48.000 --> 39:53.000 Yes, she nursed her. Have you ever heard talk of that? 232 39:53.000 --> 39:53.000 Uh-uh. 233 39:53.000 --> 39:53.000 Well, I'll see that. 234 39:53.000 --> 39:53.000 Have you? 235 39:53.000 --> 39:53.000 I'm telling you. 236 39:53.000 --> 39:58.000 You saw it. 237 39:58.000 --> 40:01.000 I saw it. That's the years back. 238 40:01.000 --> 40:05.000 Why do you think she was doing that? 239 40:05.000 --> 40:11.000 For a long time of that the people got thinking about it. See, Ms. Davis is not supposed to be down here. 240 40:11.000 --> 40:14.000 How come? 241 40:14.000 --> 41:07.000 Because the people have to walk too far and what we are going to do, we are going to make, getting a way for her to get down there. And so when we got down there, we saw this little school that they had been going and walking going on in the house. So they wouldn't let me do that. They say, "Now, you just do what you say." I says, okay. And I stayed there around. I looked around and of course some of the things I really forgot. But the people were so nice to me. And anyway, I looked at the place. 242 41:07.000 --> 41:09.000 She taught. 243 41:09.000 --> 41:53.000 I said, "What can I do? I want to be out here." But the people were so nice to me. So anyway, the way I did, I put on a program and this program, it insisted on using the parents, see how well the parents could do and see how well the children could do too. And well they had such a good time down there. They didn't know. And who knew, they would [indistinct 00:41:49], "We want you here. We don't want you to leave." 244 41:53.000 --> 42:00.000 Huh? 245 42:00.000 --> 43:09.000 I said to myself, I can't. So I told her, I said, I will have to improve on my studies. I'll have to improve and go. And then again, you remember I can't get there until every two weeks or no, once a month. I didn't see my mother. And as fast as they would give me that money and we had problems and whatnot. And see I was being paid anyhow by the state. But then when I got that, I sent it to my mother. And my mother says, "I don't want that. Don't keep it. You keep it still." Now I say no, because I can't get you no less than every, at least one or two months. So I sent it to my mother and my mother took that money, put it in the bank. And when I got back I had a loan. 246 43:09.000 --> 43:12.000 So your mother saved the money for you? 247 43:12.000 --> 43:25.000 That's right. She saved that money for every baby. And after a while when I got ready to leave, guess what they gave me? 248 43:25.000 --> 43:28.000 What? 249 43:28.000 --> 43:36.000 About 15 chickens. 250 43:36.000 --> 43:40.000 What were you going to do with 15 chickens? 251 43:40.000 --> 44:14.000 Can bring them home. And eggs. They got I don't know how many up there. I say, "Well I want you to stay here all the time." I said "I can't cause I have to go back and prove my studies," and whatnot. Well, bless the Lord when I came here, I don't even know who. 252 44:14.000 --> 44:14.000 [indistinct 00:44:15]. 253 44:14.000 --> 44:27.000 To tell the truth about it, I don't know who. But they saw that I got home here with these chickens. (laughs) 254 44:27.000 --> 44:30.000 She taught at James City school off of the top part, almost everybody laying chickens. 255 44:30.000 --> 44:34.000 Really? 256 44:34.000 --> 44:34.000 Cove City, she's talking. 257 44:34.000 --> 44:34.000 Oh, Cove City too. 258 44:34.000 --> 44:38.000 My dad was so surprised. "What in the world you're doing, coming—?" 259 44:38.000 --> 44:39.000 Wow. 260 44:39.000 --> 44:39.000 Yeah. You. 261 44:39.000 --> 44:39.000 41 years. 262 44:39.000 --> 44:39.000 In the schools, in the Craven County school system. 263 44:39.000 --> 44:39.000 41 years. She taught at [indistinct 00:44:47], at the military school. That's where she's retired from, kindergarten, military school. 264 44:39.000 --> 44:53.000 Well anyway. 265 44:53.000 --> 44:56.000 You were a teacher for a long time, weren't you? 266 44:56.000 --> 46:45.000 Bet your things right. After I went to Elizabeth City, I went here, went to Elizabeth City. And after going to Elizabeth City, I stayed there and they made me, I always tried while I was in there to get out of behind all children that were too loose with the boys. See? And what I did, I let them try, see what they had been doing before I started. And anyway therefore, I went to the boss [indistinct 00:45:54]. He said, "Ms. Davis, one thing we going to promote you. You are going up to that door and when anybody comes you have to let them know. They have to let you know. And they better not try to get no boys in there. You let us know." And that's where I got my sit to the door and once see a boy want to come, I say, "What is it?" I cannot say.